Source : The Hindu Date : 23.06.2009
Status of heritage park project unknown
Shankar Bennur
| Foundation stone for the unique project was laid in 2005 |
Project is before the Centre’s expert committee on heritage
MUDA has set aside Rs. 3.5 crore from this year’s budget for the project
— PHOTO: M.A.SRIRAM 
untouched: The fenced area reserved for the heritage park project near Lalitha Mahal Palace on the foothills of Chamundi in Mysore.
MYSORE: The Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had once set aside its prime land adjacent to the famed Lalitha Mahal Palace for a unique park project, which was then dubbed the first of its kind in the State. The project launched with much fanfare was called the ‘Heritage Park’. Its foundation stone was laid in 2005. Spread across 32 acres of land, the project was proposed to add to the aesthetics around Lalitha Mahal Palace, a prominent heritage monument of Mysore.
The MUDA had proposed the park to avoid haphazard growth around Lalitha Mahal Palace and around the foothills of Chamundi. It was announced that the heritage park would be “different” since experts of horticulture, archaeology and heritage were involved in drawing up the plan. The entire land was fenced to prevent encroachment. Thereafter, the project came to a stand still.
Funds
With Mysore identified under the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission project, the MUDA decided to seek funds under it and accordingly submitted the park’s detailed project report to the Karnataka Urban Development Infrastructure and Finance Corporation (KUDIFC) for placing it before the State-level Approval Committee (SLAC).
Panel
The SLAC is a high-powered committee constituted to screen the State’s projects that seek aid under the JNNURM. The SLAC approved the Rs. 35-crore project and forwarded the same to the Union Government for approval under JNNURM.
MUDA Commissioner P.C. Jayanna told The Hindu that the project had been referred to an expert committee on heritage, constituted by the Union Government, for examining the projects planned on heritage concept. “We are curiously awaiting the nod since the park was our ambitious project,” he said, and added that Rs 3.5 crore had been set aside in this year’s MUDA budget as its share towards the project.
The status of the project is as yet unknown. Infrastructure Development Corporation Karnataka Limited (I-DECK) had prepared the park’s DPR in 2008 in accordance with the objectives with which MUDA proposed the plan.
Stalls
It was proposed to develop stalls where visitors could interact with artisans and buy their products. The products envisaged were dolls, sculptures, pottery, ornamental items and so on. A performance court to showcase culture from different parts of the State had also been proposed. Also a “Thandi Sadak” (a shaded area), a coconut grove, an areca nut grove and a food complex to serve specialities from various districts of the State had been proposed, according to sources.